Dale Virgo's Blog » Reggae

Jolly Boys in NY: New York Times Review

Dale — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:35:24 +0000

Albert reads the Jolly Boys review in The New York Times at the JFK International Airport on their way back to Jamaica.

February 25, 2011

With Island Spice, and Years of Seasoning, Old is New Again

By JON PARELES

The Jolly Boys returned to New York City for their first public show here in decades like a Model T with a new CD player in the dashboard. At Hiro Ballroom on Thursday night, they had material few people would expect from a band that was started in the 1950s to play a style that was already decades old. The Jolly Boys have been entertaining people in Port Antonio, Jamaica, since then, often as a hotel’s house band, with a shifting lineup; Albert Minott, 72, recently stepped forward as lead singer.

The Jolly Boys cling to a Jamaican style called mento, a precursor to ska and reggae born out of older rural music. Mento is kin to old calypso and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms. But it has its own variant beats and its own cheerfully rickety instrumentation, including maracas, banjo and, instead of a bass, a rumba box: the player (Derrick Henry, a founding member of the group) sits on a box that’s like a supersized thumb piano, with wide metal prongs to plunk.

The Jolly Boys have been discovered before. From 1989 to 1997 they recorded four albums of their Jamaican songs for American labels. Only one member at the time, Joseph Bennett, is in the current band, on maracas.

At Hiro, the Jolly Boys turned to rock songs, but played two old mento songs: three-chord dance tunes that lurched and swayed their way toward potential singalongs. Mr. Minott sang with a hearty rasp; Lenford Richards, on banjo, switched between brisk, tinny rhythm chords and sauntering lead lines.

Then came songs from the band’s current album, “Great Expectation” (EOne Music). They were an unlikely assortment, trading Caribbean idylls and social commentary for alienation and post-punk self-consciousness. The set included the Stranglers’ “Golden Brown,” a song about heroin and lust; the Blondie hit “Hanging on the Telephone;” Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” and the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm.”

Each song got a mento treatment, with its own swaying, ambling beat and prickly banjo counterpoint. Mr. Minott let loose gravelly shouts in “Blue Monday,” New Order’s bitter estrangement song; Lou Reed’s affectionate “Perfect Day” became a melancholy ballad with a whistled countermelody, and Mr. Richards translated the lead guitar solo of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” into a jittery Jamaican banjo excursion.

The songs were thoroughly incongruous, but not quite as gimmicky as a description might sound. Musicians in Jamaica have a long history of applying their rhythms to hits from abroad. By wrenching the songs so far away from their original versions, the Jolly Boys (and the British producers behind “Great Expectation”) forced them to be heard afresh. “The Passenger,” an Iggy Pop song, became a gallop along the open road; the Johnny Cash hit “Ring of Fire” hinted at arson. Meanwhile, the band was pioneering something different in mento: angst. Still, since the Jolly Boys visit New York so rarely, more of their own material would have been welcome.

THE JOLLY BOYS JOIN SADE AS SPECIAL GUESTS

Dale — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:18:43 +0000

THE JOLLY BOYS JOIN SADE AS SPECIAL GUESTS

Following a personal invitation from Sade, Jamaica’s legendary and iconic The Jolly Boys have announced that they will join Sade on their European tour this spring.

The Jolly Boys, once the toast of Jamaica with their traditional ‘mento’ music, have after five decades been enjoying a remarkable revival.

It was the legendary film star Errol Flynn who, having purchased a small swathe of Northeast Jamaica, would stage wild parties at his home, and provide his favourite entertainment in the form of a local mento band, whom he nicknamed The Jolly Boys.

Mento originated as country folk music, with origins in African sounds, but with influences from European and especially Celtic music. It pre-dated and influenced everything from ska to reggae to dancehall. However, the electrification of Jamaica and its independence in the 1960s led to the decline of mento music and a new musical voice, reggae.

It was in 2009 when music producer Jon Baker suggested The Jolly Boys record a new album featuring some surprising contemporary cover versions,[1] that mento music and The Jolly Boys were re-introduced to both Jamaica and the world. The album ‘Great Expectation’ released last year went on to receive rave reviews.

Singles from “Great Expectation” Album by The Jolly Boys by geejamstudios

In their 60-year existence a changing cast of at least 18 members has come and gone but now, as noted by The Observer’s Sarfraz Manzoor, ‘The Jolly Boys are finally getting the respect they deserve. With a combined age of 382, they make the Rolling Stones look like the Jonas Brothers’.

Since the release of their album, the band has performed on the BBC’s Later with Jools Holland, as well as mesmerising audiences at the Cambridge Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party and The Big Chill. Now Sade’s audiences will experience The Jolly Boys’ special brand of Jamaican magic.

Sade Live plus special guests The Jolly Boys – full ticket information:
Friday 27 May M.E.N. Arena, Manchester 0844 847 8000

Sunday 29 May LG Arena, Birmingham 0844 338 8000

Tuesday 31 May The O2 Arena, London 0844 856 0202

24 hour credit card hotlines: 0844 847 2450, 0844 209 7352
Online: www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.seetickets.com

Additional ticket and tour information can be found at www.SADE.COM and www.marshall-arts.com.

For information on The Jolly Boys visit www.jollyboysmusic.com. Great Expectation is available to purchase now on PIAS/Geejam Recordings.
For further information, please contact:

Ben Martin @ Marshall Arts

ben@marshall-arts.co.uk / + 44 20 7586 3831

Sitting and Watching by Divine Brown (Tribute to Dennis Brown)

Dale — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:48:32 +0000

Sitting and Watching by Divine Brown (Tribute to Dennis Brown) by dalevirgo

This is a tune I did last week with Canadian Superstar – Divine Brown… This is a Tribute to Dennis Brown,, Happe Birthday Dennis Brown… bless…

http://www.divinebrown.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/divinebrown

http://twitter.com/divinamarrom

The Jolly Boys – Iron Bar – Free Download

Dale — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:24:23 +0000

MENTO was the music of the Jamaican dancehalls before ska, rocksteady and reggae came along. A people’s music typically played in the countryside on acoustic–sometimes homemade–instruments, it dates to the late 19th century. Its lyrics generally dealt with rude or slack topics, or addressed the social issues of the day. Although often confused with calypso (largely because calling it “calypso” was a handy way of marketing it to tourists who didn’t know any better), it has a rawness and rhythmic feel that is uniquely Jamaican.

MODERN MENTO is the next stage. This new development takes the tradition’s old-time style–its instruments, rhythms and timbres–and introduces it to the songs, beats and vibe of contemporary pop music. Finding fresh sounds in common ground, modern mento slams the tradition’s creative doors open and represents a new stylistic direction for Jamaican music.

FREE DOWNLOAD “Iron Bar” is one of mento’s oldest and most beloved songs. A rude song about a drunken domestic mixup, it was once commonly performed by road workers and farmers as a “digging song.” Its many recorded versions have made it an enduring mento classic.

go to the website here to download the free download of a classic mento track – http://www.jollyboysmusic.com/download.php

Hour Glass by Nordia Witter (Tribute to Oneil Edwards of Voicemail)

Dale — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:07:36 +0000

This is a song I produced at Geejam Studios for Forward Recordings. The singer is Nordia Witter, check her out at www.myspace.com/nordiawitter

Also we are dedicating this song to to the family and friends of Oneil Edwards. RIP Oneil, you a one of the good yute dem. Also I want to also dedicate the song to my friend Nicole Barton who also died this week also.

Hour Glass (Tribute to Oneil) by Nordia Witter
To download the song, click here

Pioneering studio engineer Sid Bucknor dies in England

Dale — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:15:43 +0000

The Jamaican music industry has lost another pioneer with the passing of veteran studio engineer Sid Bucknor, who died of cancer at the St Charles Hospital, Ladbroke Grove in London on Sunday.

Bucknor, who migrated to the UK in 1970, was one of the early innovators responsible for the evolution of Jamaican music from ska to reggae. The artistes on whose music the producer/songwriter has left his indelible mark include Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, Alton Ellis, John Holt, Ken Boothe and Bob Andy to mention a few.

Some of his finest recording projects were done at such studios as Studio One, Channel One, Dynamics, Federal, Treasure Isle, Harry J, Randy’s King Tubbys, Joe Gibbs among otherrs.

A short tribute by close friend, guitarist Cecil Smith stated that Sid Bucknor was a musical giant whose contribution to Jamaican music cannot be overlooked.

“Sid (Bucknor) was a giant in the music business. He was instrumental in the development of the Jamaican music sound, ska, rock steady and reggae. He was a great studio engineer, producer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of the music alongside the musicians of the time and pioneered new ways and techniques of capturing the feel and spirit of the music. His contributions to Jamaican music cannot be overlooked,” Smith noted.

According to Smith, much the industry success can be directly attributed to Bucknor’s creative genius and pioneering style. Sid Bucknor was described as “a very patient teacher who was always happy to pass on his knowledge and skills to anyone wishing to learn”.

Sid reportedly worked with all of the greats in the Jamaican music industry.

“He recorded and mixed Catch a Fire, Burning and Natty Dread for Bob Marley and the Wailers. He also recorded, mixed and produced songs with Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis, BB seaton, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Bob Andy. Before migrating to England in 1970, where he contined to spread the sound of reggae, he worked at Dynamics, Federal, Studio One, Channel One, Treasure Isle, Harry J, Randy’s King Tubbys and Joe Gibbs’ studios,” the release concluded.

Fake Friend – Mikey Pelpa (Rest In Peace)

Dale — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:39:28 +0000

Fake friend (Di Unstoppable Riddim) – Mikey Pelpa by dalevirgo

Gone but not forgotten, Rest in Peace. Mikey Pelpa,

This is a song that he voiced for me when i was working on my 1 drop riddim, Di Unstoppable Riddim. He was the one who named the riddim.